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Art Busan returns for 15th edition on May 22

Published: 28 Apr. 2026, 16:35 Updated: 28 Apr. 2026, 17:15

LIM JEONG-WON
[email protected]

Visitors to Art Busan 2025 are seen at Bexco in Busan in this file image provided by the art fair organizers [ART BUSAN]

Art Busan, a major art fair in the southern city, returns for its 15th edition from May 22 to 24 at Bexco in Busan, with a VIP preview opening on May 21. Around 110 galleries from 18 countries will participate, of which roughly 24 percent are based outside Korea.

Art Busan founder and chair Sohn Young-hee framed the 15th anniversary edition of Art Busan this year as an inflection point.

“This is an occasion to redefine Art Busan's role within the Asian art market, drawing on the appeal of Busan as a city,” Sohn said during a press conference at the Shilla Seoul on Tuesday. “We will move beyond a regional event and grow into a global art fair that the world watches.”

The fair has created two new sections this year: The “Lighthaus” area reframes participating booths as curated units through a “booth-in-booth” format, with participants including Whitestone Gallery, Wooson Gallery, PS Center and an OKNP collaboration with Ginza Tsutaya Books.

The “Define” area, launched in connection with Busan's selection as the 2028 World Design Capital, places design and art in parallel — featuring Karimoku, Fritz Hansen, Galerie Philia and a Kengo Kuma project among others.

International participants include Gladstone Gallery, Tang Contemporary Art, Whitestone Gallery, Hong Kong's 3812 Gallery, Tokyo's biscuit gallery, Taipei-based Yiri Arts and Galerie Philia, which operates across Geneva, New York, Mexico and Singapore.

Art Busan founder and chair Sohn Young-hee speaks during a press conference at the Shilla Seoul in Jung District, central Seoul on April 28. [YONHAP]

Newcomers this year include LWArt and Awase gallery from Tokyo, The Hartz Project from Hong Kong and ARMA Gallery from Madrid. Korean galleries include Gana Art, Kukje Gallery, Leeahn Gallery, Gallery Baton, Jason Haam and The Page Gallery.

Taiwan has been named this year's guest country, with joint jurying and curation conducted alongside Art Taipei.

This year's Art Busan edition arrives at a turning point. With Kiaf Seoul and Frieze Seoul having established themselves as Asia's headline fairs, the question is whether Art Busan — a fair that grew out of and within Busan — can prove its competitiveness beyond regional limits.

Adding to the pressure, the premium Hive Art Fair runs in Seoul during the same period in May, dispersing both attention and capital. Some operational friction in recent years has shifted the conversation around the fair, and whether the structural overhaul announced for its 15th edition translates into the market's choice remains to be seen.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]